Swift



W. C. KEYWORTH.

SWIFT.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 7. 1919.

INVENTOR, Keqwofl h,

P. x ATTORNH.

win-m C.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SWIFT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Application filed October 7, 1919. Serial No. 329,100.

[0 all w 720m it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. Kan WORTH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Swifts, of which the following is a specification This invention relates to swifts for winding machines, and one part of the invention has to do with the means to impose a drag or resistance to the rotation of the swift under the pull of the thread or yarn, and another part has to do with the means for maintaining the skein properly distended during the rotation of the swift. According to the first part of my invention the usual strap-like device having a pendent weight andmade'to embrace thelhub or other axial part of the swift is eliminated because it is found to act without uniformity, being especially susceptible to changein humidity of the atmosphere, and instead the swift is provided with braking means which is more uniform in action and possesses certain other advantages which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. As to the other part of my invention the object is to provide a swift whose skein supports are movable inwardly toward the hub to permit the application of the skein thereto and when in action are held outwardly to keep the skein distended, and in such manner, moreover, that while the distending effect obtains from start to finish of the unwinding it will be reduced and may be made not excessive toward the finish, when the coils or windings are few and they might otherwise be disrupted. Swifts having inwardly movable skein supports are known, and it is also known to employ springs to hold the skein supports pressed outwardly; in such swifts provision is also made for stops to limit the outward movement of the skein support, "not only to maintain the parts in assembly but to prevent the pressure of the springs, when employed, or centrifugal force, or both, from being active when the last coils or windings, only, remain on the swift and breakage thereof would result if the distending action continued. But when this is done the last windings (the remainder of the skein having been paid out) are not distended and therefore not under tension, which is undesirable. According to this invention, the skein support being movable between certain inward and outward limits and adapted to move outward under centrifugal force, means are provided to exert outward pressure thereon which is active .(the swift being in rotation) when the support is disposed inward, and inactive when it is disposed outward, of a given position; this means in one practical adaptation of my invention which is herein set forth comprehends an outwardly movable thrust element, as a spoke, and both the force of a spring and centrifugal force to produce said pressure against the skein support, the force of the spring having expended itself the spring coming to a state of rest), and the centrifugal force being limited by a stop against which the thrust element comes to hear when the skein support is outward of the position indicated; I i

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved swift; r

Fig. 2 is an elevation viewing the swift at right angles to its axis, certain parts ap- I pearing in section;

1 1g. 3 1s a transverse sectlonal view on the line 3-3, Fig.2

Fig. 1 shows a detail illustrated inFigs Q and 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective support; and

view of the skein Fig. 6 is a sectional view on theline 6-6,

Fig. 2. r

The center part of the swift includes a hub, generally designated by the character a, and radial tubular sockets 6 having longitu dinal slots 0 which form stopsd at their outer ends. Spokes or equivalent thrust elements are arranged so as to be mov ble in wardly and outwardlyv in the sockets, each including a shank e and a forked end portion 7 and having a key 9 which limitsthc outward movement of the spoke by abutting the stop cl. By means of a spring h (Fig. 1) which is assumed to be in a state of rest, or fully extended, in said figure, when the spoke is pressed in and then released it will be returned outwardly; this spring is in tended p ma ly to etumthe Spoke tcit outward position when it has been pressed inwardly to allow the skein to be adjusted to the swift, and it also coacts with centrifugal force to cause the spoke to press outwardly against the skein when it is first applied to the swift and is therefore so full that it holds the spoke pressed back somewhat. Each skein support is preferably a strip 2' of light material, such as aluminum,

serrated on its skein-contact surface and having holes j which receive the ends of the fork and having relatively to said fork inward and outward movement limited by the body of the latter and the pins 76. The en tire range of movement of the skein support is from some position more or less inward of that shown at the top of Fig. 2, say from the position indicated by the arrow A in said figure, to the position where it abuts the pins is, indicated by the arrow C; in the position of the skein support indicated by the arrow B in Fig. 2, the position in which it is shown at the top of Fig. 2, it will be apparent that with windings on the swift and the swift in rotation neither the force of the spring nor centrifugal force acting on the spoke will be transmitted to the skein support, because the spring is in a state of rest and the spoke is limited against further outward movement by the stop d.

The skein to be applied to the improved swift is formed of such diameter that, though it will hold the spokes pressed back somewhat at the start of the unwinding, be ing full, toward the end thereof and when the skein becomes thinand danger of breakage thereof is possible, it no longer resists the outward pressure of the spokes because its effective diameter is then greater than that indicated by the arrow B,the position of the skein supports where the thrust element constituted by the spokes cease to be outwardly effective thereon. Thereafter, and as tothe remaining or said thin part of the skein, centrifugal force acting on the skein supports, alone, holds them pressed outwardly against the skein, thus preserving it in a state of distention and conse quent tension.

The skein supports are free to move not only outwardly but inwardly under their *own weight, wherein there is a considerable advantage over skein supports outwardly held by springs (of course attended also by centrifugal force when the swift is in rotation) in that the force (centrifugal) impelling the skein Supports outwardly when the swift is rotating is constant in character. Moreover, the holes being fairly commodious each skein support is capable of tilting endwise and sidewise, so that it can adjust itself to the sltein and will yield to facilitate the release of a winding undercrossed with respect to others. So far as I am aware, movable skein supports in swifts.

have had their movability confined to rectilineal paths heretofore.

The hub a includes an enlarged center part Z, an integral conical boss on at one Side and an integral shaft n at the other side, the hub being preferably formed of wood; there are trunnions a in the boss and shaft, which latter it will be understood keep the swift against axial movement by abutting the bearings for the trunnions. A sleeve 0, preferably of wood (50 as to afford a wood-to-wood contact), having a bore 3) of somewhat greater diameterthan the shaft, is fitted over the latter, and its inner end is sheathed in a circular groove in the side of center part Z so that loose threads *annot interpose themselves between said sleeve and the center part; the sleeve is kept in place by a screw or key '2 engaged in a peripheral groove 8 in the shaft. The sleeve has a radial hole 3 in which is a U-shaped eye a carrying the weight t", the eye having its free ends bent off in opposite direct-ions so as to support it and being removable (after removing the weight,and the sleeve from the shaft) by pushing it back into the bore of the sleeve.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A swift including a hub, in combination with a weight carrying rigid elongated sleeve loosely fitted over a part of the hub.

2. A swift including a hub having a center part and a reduced portion extending axially from the center part, in combination with a weight-carrying sleeve fitted over the reduced portion and abutting at one end the center part.

3. A swift including a hub having a center part and a reduced portion extending axially from the center part, in combination with a weight-carrying sleeve fitted over the reduced portion and abutting at one end the center part, said center part having a continuous groove sheathing said end of the sleeve.

4:. A swift including a hub, in combination with a sleeve fitted over the hub and having a hole extending substantially radially from its bore outwardly and a weight carrying U-shaped eye arranged in said hole and having its ends turned off in the bore of the sleeve and forming support for said eye.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM C. KEYIVORTH. 

